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After this year’s first round exit, Isaiah Thomas and the rest of Celtics nation is looking to Danny Ainge for some fireworks this summer.

This year Boston looks forward to their fireworks beginning in late June, as opposed to July 4. That’s because on June 23, 2016, the Celtics can finally tap into their stockpile of draft selections for the 2016 NBA Draft. The C’s boast a total of eight picks, highlighted by the #3 slot, courtesy of pillaging a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

Whether they stash some of those young guys overseas or flip some picks into assets, there’s going to be some major movement for Boston this summer. They are entering free agency with plenty of cap room, and three of the team’s best players (Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder) are locked into cap-friendly, long term deals.

General Manager Danny Ainge has constructed the Celtics with young talent, an elite coach, and financial flexibility. On paper, these are most of the requirements to reach the next level, and evolve into a championship team. But will it happen in the next few months, or over the next few years? This summer GM Ainge can accelerate the process, or keep the Celts progressing slowly in cruise control. Boston fans only care about one destination though—Banner #18.

Together Jordan Martins and Christian Williams recap the season, breakdown the playoff results, analyze draft prospects and free agents, and give Ainge some advice on how to pop off those fireworks…

To celebrate 3 years of Screens And Rhymes, I put together a playlist of my personal favorite under the radar records of 2015. Rough Cuts features tracks that just missed the Best Music of 2015 Mix (What A Year To Be Alive) mix with DJs Thaddeus Jeffries and YVNG PAVL.

There’s an hours worth of B-sides from artists like Vic Mensa, Iman Omari, Cousin Stizz, Father, Kelela, Jay Prince, and more. Enjoy the vibes, and check out the full tracklist below.

Happy 2016! We are now celebrating 2016, but I wanted to reflect on my favorite parts of 2015. There were a ton of amazing experiences I had last year, so it was pretty tough narrowing things down to one selection. Both Screens (movies, apps, viral moments) and Rhymes (favorite: song, album, music video) are well represented. I also keep it pretty personal, with some individual highlights included as well. Check below for the comprehensive list and let me know in the comments how much you agree with my taste and/or how I completely suck at life. » Read the rest of this entry «

Screens And Rhymes officially presents our year end music mix, What A Year To Be Alive: Best Music of 2015. This is the third collaboration between me and DJs Thaddeus Jeffries and YVNG PAVL. (2014’s edition was About A Year Ago, while 2013’s was the strictly rap focused OOH KILL EM). As a team, we selected our favorite records of 2015, and the two DJs turned it into an amazing set of over 100 minutes of sonic bliss. Art direction was handled by myself in association with Michael Toney.

2015 was filled with new stars, huge collaborations, surprise albums, and singles spread through snaps, reposts, retweets and memes. What A Year To Be Alive.

The project is filled with new blood like Playboi Carti, Novelist, Villa, Towkio, Abhi//Dijon alongside guys on the come-up like Tunji Ige, Cousin Stizz, Michael Christmas, GoldLink, Skepta, Vic Mensa, Travi$ Scott, Lakim, and of course the heavyweights like Drake, Future, Kanye, Jamie xx, and Tame Impala. This year we built a special web experience to capture the vibes in proper form. Stream via Mixcloud, download, and check the tracklist below.

I have been a fan of Jefe Replay’s chilled out cut “Sips Tea” since Boston tastemaking DJ Durkin tweeted about it back in October. The record has been making waves with those in the know on the New England scene since August—now that it’s got the video treatment it should find a much larger audience.

Director James “JMP” Pereira includes cameos from local MCs like Michael Christmas, OG Swaggerdick, and Caliph. There’s swagged out scenes of highlight reel dunks on an 8 foot hoop, Jefe sporting an Aaron Hernandez jersey, and mobbing out in front of a mural in Roxbury.

Jefe is arguably one of the most important rappers on Boston’s scene. He is indirectly responsible for one of The Bean’s biggest movements—he hipped Cousin Stizz to 2012’s 12 For 12 cypher series, which led to Stizz linking with Michael Christmas and Goodwin (detailed in this Noisey piece.). Between “Sips Tea” and his feature on Stizz’s “Talk,” most fans will make it their business to check for his upcoming Ask For Juan project.